Mr. Ferro, 53, will join First Union's Capital Management Group in August, a bank spokeswoman said.

He is the chief executive officer of Scudder Investments (U.K.) Ltd., a subsidiary of Chicago-based Scudder Kemper Investments, and managing director of its European institutional asset business.

Mr. Ferro will report to Donald McMullen, a bank executive vice president and head of Capital Management Group.

Chief investment duties had previously been handled by the heads of First Union's respective investment units.

Before joining Scudder Kemper in 1994, Mr. Ferro spent six years at Cigna Investments. He also spent eighteen years at the former Bankers Trust, where he did a stint as president of Bankers Trust of Florida NA.